diff --git a/src/utils.cpp b/src/utils.cpp
index 45bd629c19..7bf56e1ada 100644
--- a/src/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils.cpp
@@ -625,6 +625,11 @@ size_t utils::trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text, const std::string &s
   return utils::count_words(utils::trim_comment(text), separators);
 }
 
+size_t utils::trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text) {
+  std::string separators = " \t\r\n\f";
+  return trim_and_count_words(text, separators);
+}
+
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Convert string into words on whitespace while handling single and
    double quotes.
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index 7ab3e7876e..fa47059bf2 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -240,10 +240,7 @@ namespace LAMMPS_NS {
 
     /** This version sets the separators argument to " \t\r\n\f" by default
      */
-    size_t trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text) {
-      std::string separators = " \t\r\n\f";
-      return trim_and_count_words(text, separators);
-    }
+    size_t trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text);
 
     /** Take text and split into non-whitespace words.
      *